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Smart Strategies and Technologies for Sustainability and Biodiversity in Herbaceous...
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Smart Strategies and Technologies for Sustainability and Biodiversity in Herbaceous and Horticultural Crops—3rd Edition

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 2100

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Christian Frasconi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Interests: farm mechanization and farm machinery; precision agriculture; conservation agriculture; nonchemical weed control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Marco Fontanelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto, 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Interests: farm mechanization and farm machinery; precision agriculture; conservation agriculture; nonchemical weed control; machine for turfgrass and landscape management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Daniele Antichi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy
Interests: sustainable agricultural systems; agroecology; cover crops; intercropping; agroforestry; conservation agriculture; organic farming
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Following the success of the first two volumes of the Special Issue “Smart Strategies and Technologies for Sustainability and Biodiversity in Herbaceous and Horticultural Crops” in Agronomy, the Editorial Office is pleased to launch the third volume of this Special Issue.

The current trends in modern farming systems lean toward technical solutions to improve the sustainability and biodiversity of agroecosystems. Innovative agronomical strategies and new technologies can help farmers to reduce or eliminate chemical inputs, preserve soil and water quality, decrease exhaust and greenhouse gas emissions, prevent pollution, and lower energy demand. Sustainable management is also aimed at enhancing biodiversity in order to lengthen the “life” of agroecosystems. Herbaceous and horticultural crops are the major crops that could contribute to achieving this goal.

In this Special Issue, all contributions regarding innovative technologies, machines, and strategies for the sustainable management of herbaceous and horticultural crops are welcome, including applications in organic farming systems, conservation agriculture, integrated or non-chemical weed and pest control, cover crops and intercropping use, precision and digital farming technologies, and robotic technologies for sustainability.

Thus, we invite experts and researchers to contribute original research, reviews, and opinion pieces covering the topics of this Special Issue.

Dr. Christian Frasconi
Dr. Marco Fontanelli
Dr. Daniele Antichi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • conservation agriculture
  • organic agriculture
  • cover crops
  • intercropping
  • integrated/non-chemical weed and pest control
  • precision and digital agriculture for sustainability

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 1814 KB  
Article
Effect of Treated Wastewater Quality on Agronomic Performance, Yield, and Nutritional Composition of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)
by Noura Benlemlih, Monica Brienza, Vincenzo Trotta, Ali Hammani, Ehssan Elmeknassi Youssoufi, Fatima El Bahja, Rania Brital, Safae El Aammouri, Essaïd Ait Barka and Mohammed Ibriz
Agronomy 2025, 15(12), 2824; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15122824 (registering DOI) - 9 Dec 2025
Abstract
Water scarcity in Mediterranean regions such as Morocco makes treated wastewater a strategic alternative for irrigation. This field study evaluated the effects of two treated wastewater sources, membrane bioreactor T2 and activated sludge T3, compared with groundwater (T1, control) on growth, yield, and [...] Read more.
Water scarcity in Mediterranean regions such as Morocco makes treated wastewater a strategic alternative for irrigation. This field study evaluated the effects of two treated wastewater sources, membrane bioreactor T2 and activated sludge T3, compared with groundwater (T1, control) on growth, yield, and fruit quality of two tomato cultivars (Solanum lycopersicum L., Bobcat and Galilia). Irrigation with activated sludge effluent T3 significantly improved agronomic performance relative to both MBR-treated water and groundwater. Under T3, plant height reached 158 ± 3.5 cm in Galilia and 150 ± 3.2 cm in Bobcat, while fruit yield increased to 9.93 ± 0.38 kg plant−1 in Bobcat and 7.12 ± 0.25 kg plant−1 in Galilia, more than double the yield recorded under T2. Physiological parameters such as chlorophyll a, proline, and soluble sugars increased markedly under T3, indicating enhanced photosynthetic activity and improved stress tolerance. Fruit quality was enhanced under T3, with higher soluble sugar and protein levels, while lycopene and acidity were greatest under groundwater irrigation. Overall, the results demonstrate that secondary treated wastewater, particularly from activated sludge processes, can sustainably improve tomato yield and quality while conserving freshwater resources in arid regions. These findings demonstrate the potential of treated wastewater as a sustainable irrigation source for water-scarce Mediterranean agriculture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Strategies and Technologies for Sustainability and Biodiversity in Herbaceous and Horticultural Crops—3rd Edition)
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21 pages, 6311 KB  
Article
A New Approach to Sensible Heat Flux via CFD-Surface Renewal Integration
by Yang Li, Yongguang Hu, Yongzong Lu, Yihui Fu and Jizhang Wang
Agronomy 2025, 15(12), 2708; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15122708 - 25 Nov 2025
Viewed by 211
Abstract
This study integrates surface renewal theory (SR) with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models to explore the estimation of sensible heat flux in tea plantations. SR describes the turbulent transport processes at the air–water interface and has been widely applied in sensible heat flux [...] Read more.
This study integrates surface renewal theory (SR) with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models to explore the estimation of sensible heat flux in tea plantations. SR describes the turbulent transport processes at the air–water interface and has been widely applied in sensible heat flux estimation. However, its practical application faces challenges, such as determining the calibration coefficient (α) and the reliability of high-frequency temperature sensors (10 hz). This research addresses these issues by combining large eddy simulation (LES) models with CFD simulations to simulate high-frequency temperature variations in flat tea plantation fields. The results indicate that the LES model accurately simulates temperature fluctuations across different timescales (1 min, 30 min), with R2 values ranging from 0.72 to 0.99, suggesting its suitability for precise sensible heat flux calculations. Furthermore, a new method for determining the calibration coefficient α using CFD simulations is proposed, which accounts for variations in atmospheric stability and terrain, thus improving the accuracy and applicability of SR in heterogeneous environments. The findings demonstrate that the CFD-based approach offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional eddy covariance systems, simplifying field measurements and enhancing the precision of sensible heat flux calculations under various atmospheric conditions (sunny, cloudy, overcast, nighttime), thereby broadening the potential applications of surface renewal theory in crop water requirement research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Strategies and Technologies for Sustainability and Biodiversity in Herbaceous and Horticultural Crops—3rd Edition)
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19 pages, 1792 KB  
Article
Hyperspectral Detection of Single and Combined Effects of Simulated Tree Shading and Alternaria alternata Infection on Sorghum bicolor, from Leaf to UAV-Canopy Scale
by Lorenzo Pippi, Michael Alibani, Nicola Acito, Daniele Antichi, Giovanni Caruso, Marco Fontanelli, Michele Moretti, Cristina Nali, Silvia Pampana, Elisa Pellegrini, Andrea Peruzzi, Samuele Risoli, Gabriele Sileoni, Nicola Silvestri, Lorenzo Gabriele Tramacere and Lorenzo Cotrozzi
Agronomy 2025, 15(11), 2458; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15112458 - 22 Oct 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 514
Abstract
Agroforestry systems offer clear environmental and agronomic advantages, but their effect on plant–biotic stressor interactions remains poorly understood. Specifically, the shade from companion trees can create microclimates favorable to fungal diseases on herbaceous crops. This potential drawback may offset other benefits, highlighting the [...] Read more.
Agroforestry systems offer clear environmental and agronomic advantages, but their effect on plant–biotic stressor interactions remains poorly understood. Specifically, the shade from companion trees can create microclimates favorable to fungal diseases on herbaceous crops. This potential drawback may offset other benefits, highlighting the urgent need for advanced plant health monitoring in these systems. This study assessed the potential of hyperspectral reflectance to detect the single and combined effects of simulated tree shading and infection by the fungal pathogen Alternaria alternata on grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) under rainfed field conditions. Sorghum was grown either under full light or 50% shading conditions. Half of the plots were artificially inoculated with an A. alternata spore suspension (2 × 108 CFU mL−1), while the others served as controls. Leaf and ground-canopy measurements were acquired with a full range spectroradiometer (VNIR-SWIR, 400–2,400 nm) and UAV imagery covered the VIS-NIR range (400–1,000 nm) before the onset of visible symptoms. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance of leaf and ground-canopy data revealed significant effects of shading (Sh), infection (Aa), and their interaction (p < 0.05), allowing early detection of infection two days before symptom appearance, while UAV data showed only singular significant effects. Partial least squares discriminant analysis accuracy reached 78% at the leaf level, 90% at the ground-canopy level, and 74% (Sh) and 75% (Aa) at the UAV scale. Furthermore, vegetation spectral indices derived from the spectra confirmed greater physiological stress in shaded and infected plants, consistent with disease incidence assessments. Our results establish scale-specific hyperspectral reflectance spectroscopy as a powerful, non-destructive technique for early plant health surveillance in agroforestry. This advanced optical sensing capability is poised to illuminate complex stressor interactions, marking a significant step forward for precision agroforestry management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Strategies and Technologies for Sustainability and Biodiversity in Herbaceous and Horticultural Crops—3rd Edition)
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19 pages, 10052 KB  
Article
Genome-Wide Identification of Cysteine-Rich Polycomb-like Protein (CPP) Gene Family and Their Expression Profile Analysis in Stem Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)
by Min Zhu, Le Jiang, Zhiheng Chen, Ping Xu, Chao Wang, Quanyan Zhang, Mengyao Li and Ying Huang
Agronomy 2025, 15(9), 2120; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15092120 - 3 Sep 2025
Viewed by 761
Abstract
Cysteine-rich polycomb-like protein (CPP) transcription factors (TFs) play critical roles in the process of plant growth and development, as well as stress responses. To date, no reports about CPP TFs have been published for lettuce (Lactuca sativa). In this study, six [...] Read more.
Cysteine-rich polycomb-like protein (CPP) transcription factors (TFs) play critical roles in the process of plant growth and development, as well as stress responses. To date, no reports about CPP TFs have been published for lettuce (Lactuca sativa). In this study, six CPP TFs (LsCPP1-LsCPP6) were identified in lettuce. Phylogenetic analysis showed that LsCPP TFs were classified into two clades (Clade I and Clade II). Six LsCPP genes were distributed across four chromosomes. Cis-elements, which are involved in environmental stress, hormone response, and development processes, were identified in the promoters of LsCPP genes. LsCPP genes were induced by different tissues and the stem enlargement processes of stem lettuce. Plant hormones (SA, ABA) and abiotic stress (salt, drought) induced the expression of LsCPP genes. LsCPP4 was significantly induced after drought stress for 12 h. Notably, the expression level of LsCPP4 increased more than 10 times (12 h) and 150 times (24 h) after salt stress. ABA and SA significantly induced the expression profile of LsCPP6. This study not only provides the basis for future functional research of LsCPP genes, particularly their roles in lettuce stress resistance, but also provides a foundation for molecular breeding to enhance the agricultural traits in lettuce. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Smart Strategies and Technologies for Sustainability and Biodiversity in Herbaceous and Horticultural Crops—3rd Edition)
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